Today we welcome Tara Mitchell to our Picnic Parade! She brings us a spring picnic with a traditional spring icon–the rainbow! If you want to add a little devotional time to your picnic, you could always include the story of Noah and his rainbow.
Whenever the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and all living creatures of every kind on the earth.” Genesis 9:16 NIV
This picnic is a fantastic extension to the story of Noah, or a great stand alone activity too. Thanks Tara!
Spring is my favorite season. It’s full of new things to explore. It’s also the beginning of our rainy season. I like rainy days best when the sun is shining. A good spring shower means my flowers are growing and blooming.
Sunny rain showers usually end with a rainbow, too. We love to go outside when the rain stops to search the sky for rainbows. We’ve even hopped in the car to try to find the end of the rainbow.
A Rainbow of My Own
A Rainbow of My Own is a great book to read on a rainy day. It’ll really spark your kids’ imagination! In this sweet book, a young boy imagines what it would be like to have a rainbow of his own to play with. After spending his day imagining, he comes home to find a surprise on his bedroom wall! This is a great time to ask your little one what they would do if they had a rainbow of their own.
After reading A Rainbow of My Own with your kiddos, why not help your little one make a rainbow of his/her own. All you need are pipe cleaners and pony beads. You can have your little ones sort the beads on their own, or you can presort for them. Then, discuss the colors of the rainbow. Can they find each of the colors in the photos in your book?
*bracelet image*
Now, let them string the beads on their pipe cleaners. They can do this in rainbow order or randomly. Older kids might prefer to string their beads on ribbon or elastic thread. Pipe cleaners are great for young children, though, because they can be taken off easily.
Once your kids have finished making their beautiful new bracelets, they might enjoy some rainbow-themed activity pages. This mini-pack includes a coloring page, q-tip painting page, and a maze. How fun!
Another fun idea is to have a rainbow picnic! Make up a picnic full of foods in every color of the rainbow. How fun is that! Here are some ideas for foods for each color:
- Red – apples, strawberries, cherry tomatoes, cherries, raspberries
- Orange – mandarin oranges, tangerines, orange pepper slices, carrot sticks
- Yellow – bananas, yellow peppers, squash
- Green – grapes, cucumbers, green peppers, peas, green beans, celery
- Blue – blueberries
- Purple – grapes
All of these activities combine to make a fun (and educational) way to spend a spring afternoon!
Tara is a mother of three – 22, 17, and 12 – living in Southern Ohio. She is the owner of Embark on the Journey where she blogs about homeschooling and parenting. On EOTJ, you can find encouragement, tips and ideas, and printables for homeschoolers. You can connect with her on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest. If you have preschoolers, you will want to visit her brand new site, Homeschool Preschool.
What is your favorite way to spend a rainy day? How do you bring color to your spring celebrations?
Check out these inspiring Picnic Parade ideas:
A Nighttime Picnic with Night Animals
Picnic at the Oklahoma Land Run
Burgess Bird Book–Welcome Spring!
Imagination Station’s “Light in the Lion’s Den”
This is adorable! I was homeschooled as a child and my favorite learning memories were ones like this– when it didn’t feel like I was learning!
That’s awesome! That’s what we are shooting for. Thanks for the encouragement!
Well – lately I’ve been getting a LOT of practice with rainy days – I usually end up praying, cooking, or cleaning my home – or all three of them 🙂
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This sounds like a really cute book! I love your craft and snack ideas.
Mihaela Echols recently posted…Love Letters To God
Thanks for these great idea to help kids learn! i have a toddler who I know would love these things!
Oh we loved this book – it really does make your imagination soar to new heights. And what a fun way to make it more enjoyable and memorable for your kiddos.
This is awesome! I’ve been looking for easy ways to teach my kids simple Bible stories and incorporate activities so they understand better. This is a great idea!!
I hope they enjoy it! I hope you can find more ideas here at Minivan Ministries!
This like so much fun and easy. Now if we could just get a spring day to apply it.
I never heard that saying before about a rainbow. I do like the idea of creating a bracelet for the kids. I am going to do this with my daycare kids.
Such a cute theme!!
Thanks!
Darling idea to spur creativity in little ones (okay, us too 😉 ) That sounds so fun how you guys look for a rainbow after the rain…sweet memories your children will have with their Momma!! -xx Anna
http://www.annaclarkeblog.com
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that’s awesome, i’ll have to save this for sure and share with friends.
Ah, finally a use for all those colorful beads Grandpa got the girls for Christmas! Great idea.
I love this idea! I can’t wait to try this with my little one in a few years! 😉
Love these ideas, perfect for spring!
Victoria @ Creative Home Keeper recently posted…Finding Joy in Homemaking
Fun ideas! I’ll have to check out that book.
I salute any parent who homeschools…this is a tough job. Great idea for an activity
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We home schooled our kids too. Made is so fun, that they didn’t realize they schooled daily with no breaks until they were in the third grade when their cousins came for a visit and said they got summers off. Hahaha…so I asked the kids if they wanted to do the same and their response was, “No, we want to school everyday!” Home school isn’t for everybody, but it worked for us. They’ve since graduated from private university and onto their careers. Great post. Oh and I found you through the concierge librarian. 🙂
That’s wonderful! I’m not so good at making it fun all the time, but it sounds like you were! We get bogged down by our core subjects occasionally, but I’m working on being better about that!
Thanks for sharing. My kiddos will love this!
Great activities, loads of fun! Just what the kids need. Thanks for sharing.
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Hi Tara,
You asked, “What is your favorite way to spend a rainy day? How do you bring color to your spring celebrations?”
We live in Washington, so it rains pretty often. We have plenty of days to figure out other things to do inside. In answer to your question, we play games, read, and talk. I think your printables and crafts could be a blessing to many people unable to go outside.
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Thanks for this post, very encouraging and educative. God bless